Chapter twenty-one
"James." The womanat the other end of the phone—Jimmy's direct supervisor—sighed. "Are you planning to come in to work today, or do you have another brother signed up to impersonate you?"
Aw, geez.They figured it out.How? He hadn't heard from Mike that they'd found him; in fact, the opposite: a gloating text at the end of the day had proclaimed thatMike had been amazing and could probably be a spy if he wanted to.
Jimmy glanced at the sleeping Coop, lines of exhaustion still clear on his face after his time away from Jimmy. He'd had a day and a half with Coop—but now he was scheduled to work. The studio had given Coop two days off, so today, he wouldn't be working, but Jimmy would. He hated to leave Coop.
"I'll be there," he said."Do you want me to explain?" He winced at the thought.
She sighed again. "I'm sure it's a spectacularly convoluted tale. No, I don't want you to share it with me."
"How did you—"
"Discover your deception? After 'you' clocked out last night—after having to ask someone how to do it, because, apparently, you'd forgotten overnight—I checked the tapes and spoke with one of your coworkers. You'dforgotten about your audition as well, and you were unexpectedly jovial. He does look like you, I'll admit. But don't do that again. Unauthorized personnel on the site are still unauthorized, even if they're nearly identical to an employee."
"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, boss." Why wasn't she firing him?
She sighed again. "I'm letting you stay because you're good with the actors, good withthe fans, and you've never once given me trouble before, not even arriving late, which is more than I can say for most of the security detail. But don't give me a reason to rethink that decision."
"Yes, boss. I'll be there. My brother won't stand in for me again."
"He'd better not." She hung up.
As warnings went, it had been mild indeed. Was this because he was up for that part? Maybeit was easier to let it slide this time than to fire him and explain to the production company the shenanigans he and Mike had slipped past security. That made more sense than believing he was so good at his job that she didn't want to fire him.
Jimmy looked at his boyfriend again and sighed. There was no way Cooper should be alone today. So, he did what any self-respecting wolf would do:he called his mom.
A few minutes later, he gently shook Coop awake and handed him coffee. "Come on, sweetheart. I have to work today, or I'll lose my job. So, we're taking you over to spend time with the pack. It'll do you good."
"What? No." Coop's face fell. "I don't want to be social today."
"You don't have to be. Mom's going to look after you. If all you want to do is sleep, you'llhave all the quiet you want in my old bedroom. It's nice. You'll love it."
"Jimmy," Cooper whined.
"Puppy eyes won't work on me," advised Jimmy. "I'm an expert. You don't even have to get dressed if you don't want to. Those pajamas are adorable on you."
